University of Arizona
Arizona State (Duel in the Desert)
Despite Big Day For Track Cats, ASU Sweeps
05/02/2015 | Track and Field
Tempe, Ariz. – The University of Arizona Wildcat No. 24 men's and women's track and field teams went toe-to-toe against the Sun Devils of Arizona State on Saturday in Tempe, Ariz. The dual meet was held at Sun Angel Stadium. The meet was scored in individual events as 5-3-1 and 5-0 for relays. Arizona State won on the men's side with a score of 92-71. On the women's side, ASU won by a score of 84-79.
“I'm extremely proud of how we competed this meet,” head coach Fred Harvey said. “The women competed extremely well, we had some really good performances. It shows a lot of promise there and I'm excited about how they competed. On the men's side they competed just as well. We have a lot of things we want to continue to improve upon. We're really optimistic about where we're going and what we're getting ready to do at the Pac-12 Championships.”
Junior Nnenya Hailey won the 400-meter hurdles with a personal-best time of 56.70. Hailey's previous personal-best time was 56.99. Hailey has the second-best time in UA history now behind only Georganne Moline. Her time is also tied for the sixth-best mark in the country on the year. Junior Morgan Struble took second place in the race with a time of 59.81. For the men's 400-meter hurdles, sophomore Miles Parish posted a personal-best time of 51.98 and took first place. That time is good for 33rd place in the west region. The top-48 athletes in their respective events qualify for the NCAA West Preliminaries in Austin, Texas.
On Friday, sophomore Gerhard de Beer had a personal-best toss of 194-8 (59.34m) in the discus and took first place overall. De Beer's toss is ranked 12th in the country on the year and first in the Pac-12. His toss is also No. 8 in school history.
Sophomore Collins Kibet won the 1,500-meter race with a time of 3:48.25. Junior Matthew Beer earned in a third-place finish in that race with a time of 3:51.95. That time is the second-best mark of Beer's career. Kibet then won the 800-meter race with a time of 1:51.18, scoring 10 points for the Wildcats on the day.
The women's 4x100-meter relay team earned a first-place finish with a season-best time of 45.18. Sophomore Bealoved Brown, freshman Tatum Waggoner, junior Traci-Lynn Hicks and sophomore Rachel Johns ran for the Wildcats. The men's 4x100-meter relay team earned a second-place finish with a time of 41.28. Sophomore Bryce Houston, freshman Tyrell Johnson, junior Blake Eichler and freshman Ty Brandt ran for the Wildcats. Waggoner then ran the 200-meter sprint in 23.70 and took first place. Her personal-best time was good for No. 8 time in UA history. The women's 4x400-meter relay team of Waggoner, junior Gia Trevisan, freshman Diana Gajda and Hailey won with a time of 3:40.41.
Sophomore Lisanne Hagens won the women's high jump competition with a clearance of 5-11.25 (1.81m). That is a personal-best mark for her and she is now tied for eighth in the west region. Senior Shakayla McEaddy took second place with a season-best jump of 5-9.25 (1.76m), good for a tie in 24th for the west region. Freshman Emily Gerard cleared 5-7.25 (1.71m) and took third place.
Senior Daniel Whitham was the first Wildcat to compete on Saturday for Arizona and he provided a great start for the Wildcats. Whitham posted a huge personal best; throwing 198-2 (60.41m) and taking second place overall. Whitham's previous personal-best mark was 186-3. That toss has Whitham in 32nd place in the west region. Sophomore Aaron Castle won the men's shot put with a toss of 61-3.5 (18.68m), the No. 2 mark of his career.
Redshirt sophomore Jonny Giess won the javelin competition with a huge personal-best toss of 205-3 (62.57m). Currently, that mark is 43rd in the west region. Freshman Erik Mensendiek earned a runner-up finish in the event with a toss of 188-10 (57.56m).
Senior Elvin Kibet takes second place in the 3K with a personal-best time of 9:37.33. Senior Kristina Aubert finished in third place at 9:38.
Arizona went 1-2-3 in the men's 400-meter sprint, led by senior Pete Lauderdale with a time of 46.77. Junior Blake Eichler was in second place at 47.63 and sophomore Bryce Houston took third place with a time of 47.74. Eichler then took second place in the 200 meters with a time of 21.27 while Lauderdale was third with a time of 21.58. The quartet of Eichler, Lauderdale, Houston and Parish won the men's 4x400-meter relay with a time of 3:10.02.
Junior decathlete Pau Tonnesen had a personal-best toss of 152-6 (46.48m) in the discus on Friday afternoon. Then Tonnesen began his day on Saturday with a third-place finish in the long jump, going 23-1.75 (7.05m, +0.3 wind). Senior Steven Scarvelis clocked a time of 15.26 in the 110-meter hurdles and took second place. Junior Harrison Ivie's time of 15.32 was good for third place in the 110-meter hurdles.
Sophomore heptathlete Alyssa Thompson began the day with a personal-best mark of 133-2 (40.60m) in the javelin competition. She took second place overall in the event. The Wildcats went 1-2-3 in the women's 100-meter hurdles. Sophomore Tiana Bonds took first with a time of 13.85. Hicks finished in second place at 14.19. Thompson clocked a time of 14.82 and finished in third place overall.
Sophomore Savannah Whitehead won the women's pole vault competition on Friday with a personal-best clearance of 12-10.25 (3.92m). That is tied for the seventh-best clearance in school history.
Junior Molly Callahan finished in second place in the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 10:55.95. That is the second-best time of her career. Sophomore McKenna Gaffney took third place in the steeplechase with a time of 11:29.97. Junior Kate Penney took second place in the 1,500-meter race with a time of 4:30.44.
Sophomore Aleah Hurst took second place in the long jump with a jump of 18-9.75 (5.73m, +1.3 wind). Hicks finished in third at 18-5.75 (5.63m, +1.6 wind).
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